Wii Virtual Console

I got $20 to download games from the Wii Shop Channel for Christmas. I already have a few games I've downloaded, but I find I don't really play them very much. There is one game that has made the whole system worthwhile: Dr. Mario. I used to play that game with my old middle high/high school friend Shane Harris. We'd battle it out all night. Anyway, here is the list of downloaded games I have (the ones with asterisks are the ones I just downloaded with the $20).

Castlevania (NES)
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)*
Dr. Mario Online Rx. (Originally from NES)
Galaga (NES)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)*
Star Fox (N64)
Street Fighter II (SNES)
Super Mario Brothers (NES)
Super Mario Brothers 2 (NES)
Super Mario Brothers 3 (NES)*
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)

Here's what I've got my eyes on still, for future purchase:

Double Dragon (NES)
Mega Man (NES)
Metroid (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)

Where I am lacking is the WiiWare titles. I'm not too familiar with most of them. I know Justin and Tomoe downloaded the Tetris, so Justin, if you're reading this, do you guys still play it very much? I'm sure it's nothing like Dr. Mario with Tomoe, but has it remained a fun game? So, you gamers out there, throw me some ideas!

(Image from: http://graphicshunt.com/images/super_mario_bros-12814.htm.)

Farewell to Whitney

The State of Hawaii has been in a bad financial condition for the past year and a half. With the economy hurting, the State is suffering, too. Unfortunately, this has led to layoffs, bumping, and furloughs. One of our vacant clerical positions was cut last February, never to be filled again. Now we've lost Nicole's position, also a clerical position, and another clerk, Jerry, was bumped. Although Jerry's position will be filled by another State clerk from another State office, Jerry has already had to leave but the new worker hasn't showed up yet. That means that out of four original clerical positions, only one is left now. Not good for the Archives. Meanwhile, our newest archivist, Whitney, scared that her position would be cut, started looking for a new job back on the mainland. Well, she found one at the Bill Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas and recently moved. So things at the Archives are quiet now. Here is a picture of Whitney at her farewell dinner that Romney and I went to.

Visiting Neighbors

Cheap Entertainment

Romney and I were pretty sad when our main source of cheap entertainment closed down just a few weeks ago.

Photo from scrivner of flickr.

Restaurant Row Theaters was the dollar theater of Honolulu. For a total price of $2.00 (pricing had recently climbed to $3.00) we used to be able to see some of the interesting, or not so interesting, movies just before they came out on DVD. The theater had a 50 year lease at $1.00 a year with the plaza it's in and it's been there for 15 years so far. But recently the plaza was bought out and the new owners are trying to "clean up" it's image. They think the cheap entertainment attracts the "wrong" crowd of people. (I guess that includes my wife and me along with the hundreds of other young couples I've seen go there.) So the plaza offered the theater millions of dollars and bought them out of their lease. Bye bye dollar theater.

Our last option for cheap movies is the "Red Box" or "DVDPlay" at the grocery stores. It's cheap and easy to use, although the movie selections are minimal. But, $1.00 beats the $10.00 you'll have to pay at the full-priced theater or $5.00 at Blockbuster to rent.

Picture from videobusiness.com

Legend

So Romney bought her brother the movie Legend for his birthday. I remember watching it when I was younger.

I had mixed feelings about it; I remember it being cool, but scary at the same time. Anyway, I had forgotten the movie even existed until we saw it on his wishlist. I really want to see it again. I remember something about the boy (who I now realize was Tom Cruise) jumping into a lake or river and becoming trapped in it. I think that's the part that scared me to death as a kid. Anyway, the next time we visit Taylor we'll have to get him to let us watch it.

Happy Birthday Romney!!!

I know this is a bit late, but we really haven't done anything worth blogging about so this is the most exciting thing I could think of. Well, Romney just turned... You really don't think I would tell you how old she is, do you!?! Whatever her age, let's just say she's younger than me. :(

I didn't know what I was going to get her for her birthday. Every time I asked her what she wanted, she said she didn't know. I was ready to buy her something off her Amazon wishlist but she finally started saying what she wanted: a pair of work sandals. *Sigh* She's so practical. However, the family members helped get her some fun things though, including Stranger than Fiction (I usually don't like much of Will Ferrel's stuff and apparently Taylor, Romney's brother, thinks similarly, but we both liked this one, as well as Romney), CandyLand, a Hello Kitty lunch bag that she absolutely adores, a Japanese-character notebook (I don't know which character it is), and another thing or two I don't remember. Plus we got some cash which we used to go out and eat a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. We ended up asking our friends, Justin and Tomoe Call, to come along with us. We also went to Yogurtland for frozen yogurt a new fad that seems to be sweeping Honolulu.

I also made Romney a strawberry cake with vanilla frosting and some "wavy" candles. As she was going to blow the candles out, Justin and Tomoe asked where our video camera was to tape it. With the candles still burning, we started running around looking for the camera but couldn't find it anywhere. Meanwhile, the candles had almost burned out so Romney had to quickly make her wish and blow them out before they sputtered out and died. We were pretty disappointed. Later that night, we found the camera under one of the bedroom nightstands since we really didn't have anywhere else to put it, but I forgot that I was the one who put it there...so it's all my fault. If I hadn't "lost" it, there could have been a short video of Romney blowing out her birthday cake candles. Anyway, happy birthday Roms! You're the best.

4th of July 2009

Independence Day was another fun holiday for us this year. We were invited to Mark and Marty Alsop's place for dinner with a large group of friends from the McCully Ward. There were several new people we got to meet and get to know. After the meal, some of us walked to the Ala Moana Beach Park where the Shopping Center puts on a firework show each year. It was rated as the 7th best firework show of the nation. We took the 20-minute show and reduced it to four minutes. We had a good viewing spot, but unfortunately, there was a young girl in front of us that kept screaming through the whole show. Why her parents didn't tell her to shut up, I don't know or understand. I wish I had brought some duct tape with me... Anyway, if she is too annoying, just skip through the video to the grand finale; it's pretty cool. Or, mute the sound.

Koko Head Crater Hike

There is a crater over by Hawaii Kai that has a trail that goes straight up it to the top. I think it goes back to World War II when they built lookouts on almost any high hill. Anyway, on this hill they built a railroad track that went straight up and they would pull small mining-carts up and down the hill. Well, the track is still there and the tiers are now used like stairs to climb up. The view on top is pretty spectacular.

Kaena Point Hike

After several attempts, Romney and I made it out to Kaena Point. It's on the most western tip of Oahu. The road you take to get out there doesn't go all the way. You have to park your car and walk the 2.75 miles out to the point. We attempted the hike with my parents but knew we didn't have enough time so we only went a short distance. Then, we planned to go with Romney's parents when they came for her graduation, but that never happened.



We went with Justin and Tomoe Call, who had already been out there a few times before. The hike was beautiful, although very hot. Here are some photos on the way out:




At the point, there were a few albatrosses flying at a distance, but nothing too close. However, we did get to see a monk seal sunbathing on the rocks. We got some good photos of him scratching his head.



After spending an hour on the point, it was time to turn around and head home. It was a beautiful hike!

Romney's MSW Graduation

I graduated with my Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa on May 16, 2009! My concentration is gerontology. Its been a long 3 years, but worth the accomplishment. My parents and grandparents were able to come to the ceremony.
Waiting with fellow MSW before the ceremony

Waving to my family in the stands amongst the crowd of graduates.

Walking across the stage to receive my diploma!





Each department has a different color hood.


After the ceremony we went to Ruby Tuesdays for a celebration dinner with the family.

Romney's Parents visit May 2009

My parents came for my graduation in May. They were here for about 2 weeks. We did several things like hiking and going out to eat! Here are some pics from hiking at Mariner's Ridge hike in Hawaii Kai.
Mom and Dad at the top.




After the hike getting pasteries at Napoleon's bakery.


Memorial day we went to visit graves of my two Uncles and great grandmother at Hawaiian Memorial Cemetery.

Skeem Family in Hawaii

My parents came to Hawaii for a two week vacation and stayed with us. I don't know how many times they've planned to come but it's always fallen through. However, Romney and I were trying really hard to move by June or July so this time they made it.

Right as Romney and I flew back into Honolulu from our trip to Maui on Saturday, my youngest brother, Callin, flew in to meet us. Being a Senior in high school, he was on his Spring Break for one week and was sent ahead of my parents to give him a little extra time since he had to be back to school the following week. Our plane got in a little earlier than his so we waited for about an hour. Then Heber and Olya Moulton from our Ward picked us all up.

We hiked Diamond Head and Manoa Falls with him. We also took him to Dave & Busters for some arcade games and then down to Menchie's Frozen Yogurt. On Tuesday my parents arrived. On one of the days they went to the Polynesian Cultural Center up in Laie while Romney and I were at work. This ended up being Callin's favorite part of his entire stay.






That first week with Callin with us, we took them to the North Shore, all over the East side of Oahu, even where I proposed to Romney, and the Western tip of Oahu. We focused mainly on beaches but made sure they tried a Hawaiian Shave Ice. We also took them to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling. My dad wasn't going to get in originally, but we talked him into it and I kind of think that was his favorite part of the trip. We saw two turtles swimming together, which I've never even seen before; usually just one at a time. We also took them to Punchbowl Cemetery.






For the second week, after Callin went home, my parents went to Iolani Palace, the Archives where I gave them a tour and showed them some of the very cool artifacts we have, and then to Pearl Harbor to the Arizona Memorial. They also went to the Swap Meet twice while they were here. That must have been my mom's favorite part.



To see more photos, check out our Picasa site. The link is on the top right side of this window.

Road to Hana-Back to Kahului

Instead of turning around and driving back the way we came, we continued circling the island, following the road along the southern side of East Maui. The road was narrow and unpaved for a portion of it, but the views were spectacular.

Road to Hana - Red Sand Beach

Right in Hana is a hidden and almost inaccessible beach that has red sand. It's caused from the cliff walls behind it that are made of red rock. Over the centuries, as the waves have slowly broken it down into pebbles, it's left the sand a distinct red color. Also, because of this red sand, the water turns into a beautiful turquoise color. The video doesn't show the colors too well, which is why we've decided to get a High Definition camcorder for future video of Hawaii. But trust me, it was beautiful.

Road to Hana-Black Sand Beach

This is the only black sand beach on Maui. We walked the small beach, then we climbed a ledge where the waves were crashing all around us. Lastly, we went to some caves close by.

Road to Hana-Waterfalls

Here's a highlight of the waterfall portion of our drive. The north side of East Maui gets tons of rainfall so there were lots of waterfalls to stop and see.

Whale Watching (Maui)

Here is a bit of footage from our whale watching tour. This is taking the highlights of two hours and cutting out the boring parts, leaving you with the whale footage. Enjoy!

Maui (Day3)

Our third day in Maui was a short one as our flight was at 4pm. We decided to save Haleakala National Park for this day. We did not want to get up at 3am to see the sunrise. We were on vacation...which equals sleeping in!! We drove up to Haleakala National Park around 10am. It was a very long and very windy road. The views driving up the mountain were spectacular as we got higher and higher. It was also neat to drive through the clouds and drive above the clouds.






In the background is an observatory affiliated with the University of Hawaii and the military also uses it for operations. It stands at 10,000 feet.


This is a rare plant called the silver sword



Haleakala National Park is at 8,000 feet. It was pretty cold up there, even in the late morning/early afternoon while we were there. The volcano is dormant. There are many hiking trails in the crater but we did not have too much time to wander around. We took some pictures but mostly video taped as we were driving up and on the way back.

Maui (Day 2)

Day 2 was the infamous drive to Hana. It was a narrow and very windy road with small one-way bridges to cross. This is pretty much a whole day event driving from Kahului around the whole east side of the island and back around.




Along the way there are several waterfalls and coastline scenery. There were big falls such as this first one called Three Bears Falls.




And not so big....


Our favorite spot of the day was the black sand beach. There were many trails to walk along and huge waves crashing against the coastline and fresh water caves.






The red sand beach in Hana was amazing as the sand is a deep red and the water along the beach is a light refreshing blue that contrasts with the red sand.






For the drive back we drove along this stretch of road that was pretty much an unfinished road with dirt and rocks. Some of the guide books say the road ends and you need a jeep to cross this upaved road to get to the other side. However, the book we had said we were fine. We were adventurous and tried the road in our small rental car. It wasn't too bad, some parts even less rough than the highway itself. It was worth the drive as we saw beautiful landscapes. Maybe we'll post some video of it soon.